By Steve Maltz               Back to menu ...

So you've seen the film and are no doubt still numbed by the reality of the trials that Jesus went through. Those were brutal times and Mel Gibson pulled no punches to reflect this.

Yet one question begs to be answered. We saw how he was killed, but perhaps we are confused as to why it had to happen in the first place?

To do so, we have to first clear something up and ask a further question: who actually was responsible for the horrible death of Jesus?

Let's consider the candidates.

The Roman soldiers?

Well they actually carried it out. They were the executioners. But, as with all executioners, they were just carrying out orders. Surely they were just the tools of the state? Ah, so it was the fault of …

The Roman governor?

Pontius Pilate was the man. A weak man, he nevertheless had a cruel, violent track record. Yet it was clear from the film, and from reading the Bible, that, for political reasons, he did all he could not to condemn Jesus to death. Although it was through his orders that the sentence was carried out, it was only at the insistence of the Jewish mob that confronted him. Ah, so it was the fault of …

The Jews?

That old chestnut. Perhaps the most controversial scene in the film was when we saw the angry Jewish mob baying for Jesus' blood and, to a man, crying out, "crucify him!" What wasn't shown in the film (unless you speak Aramaic) was when they also cried out, "let his blood be on us and on our children." This declaration came true when this generation (and their children) witnessed the destruction of their city by the Romans about 40 years later. Yet many in the Christian Church throughout history have tried to extend this curse to include all Jews who have ever lived! Did they deserve this? Were all Jews against Jesus and who he claimed to be? Jesus himself, his disciples and all of his followers were Jewish. Does that make them all responsible? If you read Matthew 27:20, you read the real story, that the film failed to highlight. "But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd … to have Jesus executed". Ah, so it was the fault of …

The Jewish leadership?

Well we see them in total opposition to Jesus right through the film, but we are not really shown the reasons for their anger and aggression. Are they just angry vengeful people, or is there something we are not told? Jesus had been a thorn in their side over a three year period, yet we were asked to form an opinion about them from viewing just the last 12 hours of the story! Let's just say that he threatened the status-quo, something that all ruling regimes throughout history have dealt with in equally merciless ways.

So, am I saying they were not actually responsible? Well, let's find out from the mouth of the only one in the story who really knew what it was all about - Jesus himself.

First of all, he knew it was going to happen. "… Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed … " (Matthew 16:21). He seemed to be blaming the Jewish leadership. Yet on the cross he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Something a lot deeper was going on here. It seems that the stage had been set, the actors were playing their parts, but who, actually, was pulling the strings?

Just weeks earlier, Jesus said this to his closest friends, "the reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life … No-one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:17-18). So he went to his death willingly. Ah, so it was the fault of …

Jesus himself?

So he already knew what was going to happen and he went willingly? How then can we blame others? In that last Bible quote we get even more information. We read that it was the very reason that God loves him! Ah, so it was the fault of …

God?

It seems so.

Weeks later, Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends, in his first great speech to the Jews in Jerusalem said this, "this man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23).

So it was all God's purpose! How can we, then, blame anyone? And what, exactly was God's purpose?

Jesus explains it in a nutshell in the most famous verse of the Gospels. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life".

Jesus had to die, otherwise there would have been no resurrection. And without his resurrection and victory over death, there would be no salvation and no eternal life for us.

We can now complete some earlier verses that I quoted: "… Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (Matthew 16:21).

"The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again" (John 10:17).

So God is to blame. Are we to persecute him for this? We should be thanking him for this divine plan that must have brought him so much pain. Rather than blaming the Jews we should all be thanking them for the part they had to play in our salvation!

Which brings us back to our first question. When all is said and done, who, then, was responsible for the death of Jesus?

You and me.

Jesus wouldn't have had to die if we weren't worth dying for. Doesn't that make us all responsible for the death of Jesus?

Think about it.